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Originally Posted by NewWestGardener
Thank you Oakley and Lyn for sharing your knowledge and experience here. I started mine trial following your lead. I'm having great success with peas, but my sunflower all have moulds and had to be tossed out.
Question now: do you cover sunflower seeds? My trays did not have drainage holes (while my peas had). Is drainage the main problem here? I suspect it is, but some videos I watched do not have drainage holes in their containers. I did not use a fan. The trays are new, so no hygene issues to start with. Lighting is good.
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NewWestGardener,
I always recommend that new growers start with peas - they are almost foolproof and the yield is great. Sunflowers, on the other hand, not so much. They are so quick to mold! Here is my method (even doing it this way, depending on the weather, I still get mold sometimes).
I use a 1020 tray with holes nested inside a 1020 tray without holes. I add 4 cups of pH balanced water to the empty tray and then add enough potting soil to fill the tray about 2/3rds full. I spray the top of soil in the tray with a mister bottle for extra moisture.
Meanwhile, I soak 7oz of black oil sunflowers in a pitcher with pH balanced water and 4 drops of grapefruit seed extract (organic anti-fungal agent that I buy on Amazon; not expensive). Soak for 10 minutes and then rinse. Re-fill the pitcher with more water and soak for 5-6 hours.
Drain and rinse again. Spread the seeds on the surface of the tray evenly. Using a spatula or something flat, press the seeds lightly down in the soil. I don't cover with another light layer of soil; some do. Take a third tray without holes and nest it on top of the seeds. Put something kind of heavy on top to weigh down the tray. Once or twice a day remove the top and mist the seeds. You will see them start to germinate. If you see any white mold forming, pull out the bad seed or bit of debris that is causing the mold and the rest of the mold. After the sprouted seed starts to form the first leaves, turn the inverted tray over and continue to mist and leave in the dark. Continue to remove any moldy bits. When the leaves reach the top of the tray lid, remove the lid and put under lights.
Position a house fan directly at the tray and leave it on continuously until ready to harvest. To water, lift the top tray with soil and pour water into the bottom tray without the holes. Use enough water to fill the troughs in the bottom tray. Continue to look for moldy areas and hope they don't appear!
I've found that warm weather is brutal for sunflowers in terms of mold. I gave up growing them during the hottest part of the summer just for that reason.
Another thing you could try is a different seed source. I tried 3 or 4 before finding some that didn't mold that much.
Lyn